Cherry Newbery

Ex-Club Secretary

Born in Leigh-on-Sea, former Hatters' club secretary Cherry Newbery may be an Essex girl - but she could rightly claim to be Luton Town through and through.

Not only had she been personally connected to the club for two decades, but her grandfather was Jimmy Yardley, who played regularly for the Hatters between 1926 and 1932.  He was a regular on the score sheet during his time and even bagged a hat-trick against Reading towards the end of his Kenilworth Road career.

As a young woman, Cherry first followed the Hatters fortunes from the terraces but then became part of the backroom staff in 1974 after answering an advertisement for a cashier.  She had previously worked in a local bank.

With a young family to look after, Cherry went part-time and by the time the Hatters returned to the top Division in 1982, she was employed part-time in the role of programme distributor.  She took charge of a team of 20-plus programme sellers and organised postal subscriptions, etc.

Her administrative skills saw her carry out a number of roles in the Kenilworth Road offices and during the 1980's she moved into the ticket office where she worked long hours supervising arrangements for the many big matches in those heady days.

As well as football, Cherry had, in the past, devoted plenty of time and energy to her other love - basketball.  She became one of the top officials in the country, officiating cup finals and even appearing on Channel Four TV in her role as a table official.  Before she started a family she used to turn out for the Stopsley club herself.

By the early 1990's, she was employed as admin manager in the commercial department and then in the summer of 1994 she secured the important role of club secretary, replacing John Smylie.  It was all change that summer for the Hatters, with Terry Westley taking the manager's chair and many new arrivals on the pitch including Steve Davis, Graham Alexander and David Oldfield.

By the end of the 1990's, Luton Town had slipped down to Division Two (now known as League One) and many fans were unhappy over the way the club was being run.  The departure of David Kohler appeased some of the disgruntled supporters, but, sadly, Cherry also had to take her share of personal abuse.

Cherry's popularity with the Hatters supporters had grown vastly following events at Kenilworth Road during the summer of 2003.  On Friday, 23rd May 2003, Hatters fans were stunned when the then Luton Town manager Joe Kinnear and his assistant Mick Harford were sacked.

Earlier that week, owner Mike Watson-Challis had confirmed the sale of the club to the now legendary 'mystery consortium', which was originally heralded as good news by the club.

But supporters groups had urged caution, and news of the sackings saw their worst fears realised.

Mick Harford was clearly shaken by events, and so too was Joe Kinnear. But the manager, hard though it undoubtedly was, kept his thoughts to himself as he immediately called in the lawyers.

Privately Kinnear was seething. One minute he was expecting funds to at last finance a promotion push, the next minute he was being shown the door - although details of his salary were made public in a bid to show that it was a genuine cost-cutting measure.

The following week the new directors were reported to be meeting at Kenilworth Road. As word got out, fans began to gather at the ground with banners in support of Joe and Mick and cheered a brief appearance from Joe Kinnear.

But those who arrived later had to drive though angry fans outside the ground, and there were ugly scenes.

The man who spoke to reporters was one time Peterborough director Roger Terrell, who had been brought in in an advisory capacity with a view to becoming the new Chairman. But it soon became clear that he had bitten off more than he could chew.

"I'm not part of the consortium. We've been asked by the consortium to assist on the football side" , he said.

"But we've perhaps got a few questions for the consortium because we didn't realise the strength of feeling of the fans and obviously their needs to be some communication."

A week later Terrell quit. He and Lee Power, who would probably have been his vice chairman, issued a statement saying:

"As a result of the reaction of the supporters, we decided to reconsider out position and we have had further discussions with the investors in the club and we have decided to decline their offer to be involved.  We wish Luton all the best for the future."

Of course the crux of the matter was the land at junction 10 of the M1. This was the council's preferred site for a new stadium, and the site where former chairman David Kohler had gone through a lengthy planning inquiry only to be denied by the lack of M1 widening.

For any new investors, this was the reason for a takeover, but Eric Hood seemed unsure as to the exact detail of the sale.

Gradually names began to emerge, including that of John Gurney who had previously been involved at Bedford rugby club. Those were troubled times for the Blues, with their very existence in grave doubt, and Luton Town supporters began to fear the worst.

As he had done at Bedford, Mr. Gurney at first conducted much of his business via the club website, and published a scheme for a new stadium at junction 10 which including amongst other things a Grand Prix circuit.

In a bid to appease fans, he invited them to vote for the new manager, but via a premium rate phone poll!

Meanwhile, the club was in turmoil. The chief scout was the next to depart. Sacked by letter.

It might have been signed by Cherry, but the club's secretary was emerging as the one person standing between Luton Town and closure. Things were that bad, and even five months on, her views haven't changed.

"It was definitely the very worst summer I've ever known in all the years I've been at the club and wouldn't want anybody at the club or the supporters to go through that again" she said.

"It was a very, very serious situation."

Meanwhile the managerial vote continued, and a shortlist was drawn up. Joe Kinnear was on it, so too was Steve Cotterill the former Cheltenham boss who had lost his job at Sunderland when Howard Wilkinson was sacked, and also ex-Hatter Mike Newell.

A press conference was called and the results, eventually, announced. Mike Newell was declared the winner.

Whether Kinnear would have returned is unclear. John Gurney had visited him in Spain and held lengthy talks, and offered a new contract, but when Kinnear broke his silence he was scathing about Gurney's plans, and also defended his spending which whilst low on transfer fees had seen a massive rise in wages. He was also able to give his version of the sacking, and the people involved.

When Newell took over, John Gurney was of course still at the helm, but behind-the-scenes much was going on in a bid to genuinely save the club, as supporters withholding season-ticket money was strangling the club's cash flow.

Mike Watson-Challis - who still has to our knowledge a major stake in things by virtue of land ownership at junction 10, signed over his debts to the supporters group Trust In Luton. They duly called in the administrative receiver Barry Ward to wrest control from Gurney.

One of Barry Ward's first jobs was to bring back Mick Harford, who with Gurney gone, felt he could return, and his role as Director of Football was secured just before the start of the season.

But financial troubles have remained throughout the opening months of the season. As wage discussions with the players threatened to undermine all the efforts of messrs Newell and Harford.

However, in December 2003, there was, at last, light at the end of the tunnel as a new consortium, headed by former general manager Bill Tomlins, made a bid for the club to become the new owners.

There is no doubt, however, that Cherry was the jewel in Luton's crown during that dreadful summer.  She was always prepared to answer any questions that the Hatters fans had to ask and she even went to the extent of telling fans who wished to purchase season tickets not to do so during Gurney's period in control - something that she admitted felt very strange, but that she equally knew was the right thing to do.

Her relationship with the Hatters fans therefore soared that summer - but unfortunately, once again, things were to take a turn for the worse off the pitch.

After a brief period of success on the field under Newell, during which time the Hatters won the League One title, Newell was sacked with the Hatters struggling in the Championship.  New manager Kevin Blackwell couldn't stop a further relegation to League One - and things then went from bad to worse.

A new chairman, David Pinkney, had replaced Tomlins in charge of the club. He soon placed the club into administration and the Hatters were automatically deducted 10 points and subsequently relegated from League One - their second successive relegation. 

Hopes were high for the 2008-09 season, but in June 2008, Luton Town were hit by a bombshell from the Football Association.  The club were fined £50,000 and deducted 10 League points for the start of the 2008-09 season by the FA for financial irregularities at the club under the former owners Jayten Stadium Ltd.

The investigation, which began in March 2007, found that payments made to the six agents, totalling about £160,000, by the club's holding company 'Jayten (also known as 'J10') Stadium Limited' were not disclosed to the FA on the required forms.  In addition, it was also alleged that services for the benefit of a Luton player, totalling approximately £7,000, were paid for directly by 'Jayten' but were not disclosed on the player's contract.

The charges followed an FA investigation after former Hatters manager Mike Newell claimed in early 2006 that illegal payments in the game were rife.  His allegations were shown to be right and his concerns - which had seen him sacked as Luton Town manager after he voiced these concerns - were proven to be well founded Cherry herself identified the illegal payments.  She subsequently reported them to the FA.

The Hatters were found guilty of 15 charges of misconduct, concerning payments to agents between July 2004 and February 2007.  The Regulatory Commission found the club guilty of paying agents via a third party, but not of paying bungs.

Former chairman Bill Tomlins was banned from football for five years and fined £15,000.  Three other ex-directors were also punished and six agents warned. Derek Peter was fined £3,750 and a one-year ban from football. Richard Bagehot was fined £750 and John Mitchell £250.

It represented the worst-case scenario for Luton Town and the decision was a huge shock and came as a massive blow for Hatters fans.

It also seemed so unfair on Luton supporters – how many more times were they going to be punished? Not only had they had to contend with selling over £14 million worth of players in 2-and-a-half-years, three different managers, a 10-point deduction the previous season and two successive relegations, they now also had to accept that they could even lose their status as a Football League club.

When it looked as though Luton Town had hit rock bottom, things then went from bad to worse.  In July 2008, Luton Town were handed a further 20-point deduction by the Football League for failing to exit administration in the correct manner via a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with its creditors.

Coupled with the previous 10-point deduction imposed by the FA in June 2008 for financial irregularities, it meant the Hatters would start the 2008-09 season in League Two on an unprecedented -30 points.

Sadly, it was a battle that proved too much for the Hatters and they were eventually relegated from the Football League after 98 years as a professional Football League club.  However, Cherry, surprisingly, was not around to see it.

She had been put on "gardening leave" in early 2009 - although nobody would ever find out why, with the club refusing to comment on the situation.  The Hatters were by now under new ownership, run by consortium 2020, who were led by a group of lifelong Luton Town fans.

After a three-month period of being on "gardening leave" it was finally announced in April 2009 that Cherry had left Luton Town Football Club after more than 30 years service at Kenilworth Road.

Club director Stephen Browne said: "She's not been fired, categorically. She's left by mutual consent."

But when asked if the club had asked her to leave, Browne said: "I can't answer that."

Cherry's future became shrouded in mystery in March 2009 as the Hatters prepared for one of the biggest games in their history - a Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final at Wembley against Scunthorpe United.  Cherry would usually have been at the forefront of selling tickets and making arrangements for a fixture of this magnitude, but she was nowhere to be seen.

It is believed Cherry was suspended, leading to her taking holiday, though the club deny this.

When asked if there would be an appropriate send-off for someone who has dedicated a large part of her life to the club, Browne said: "I'm afraid not. As you know we won't disclose past or present individuals of the club. You can try Cherry."

When asked if Cherry had been suspended, Browne said: "That's an assumption - it's not quite like that at all.

"I wouldn't call it a suspension or gardening leave. It could be compassionate leave, changes in the business or changes in her personal life.

"I'm going to respect her longevity at the club and I'm not going to get into that."

It was a sad end to Cherry's long spell at Kenilworth Road and a shame that the lady dubbed "Mrs Luton Town" had left without an explanation for her departure.  However, she left with the best wishes of all Luton Town fans and with a huge thank you for her dedicated years of service to the club.

I, personally, would also like to express my gratitude for the help, advice and friendship given by Cherry during my time running Lutonfc.com.  I am sure I speak for everyone when I say that Kenilworth Road will not be the same without her.

Profile By:  James Garley